Beauty, Mercy, Justice

Laudato Si 123

No, not from the Postal Service. One of the shocks of the last year was when I talked to a postal retirement counselor and realized that my dream of retiring soon and spending more time painting and writing was completely unrealistic, that there was no way we could live on a postal pension.

No, I am a retired smart ass and a retired know it all. And I am a retired political satirist; I mean really, look at how the 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up. Who needs satirists?

I am practically a retired blogger, and spend maybe an hour a week online ,

And I am a retired irritant to Catholic neocons and libertarians. Pope Francis has once and for all re-radicalized Catholic social teaching, which not so long ago was in grave danger of being co-opted by capitalism and its friends.

That battle is over, though there are still a lot of residual skirmishes to be fought. But a new and heartening generation of Catholic radicals has arisen, fresh to the fight and eager to take up the struggle at a time I am weary of it.

I have no illusion that the free marketeers are through with their conniving, and am certain that even as I write they are pulling strings at the Vatican, trying to influence the next concave to elect a more malleable pope. But the last time they relied on the worldly tools of big money and political intrigue what happened?

God gave us Francis.

Still, retired or not, I cannot help but be tickled by something in Laudato Si, which I finally received in the mail a few days ago ( the blurb on the back said that this was Francis’ second encyclical. Good job, Sunday Visitor editor).

I joked, when Francis’ radicalism was becoming apparent in the weeks after his election, that his first encyclical would be called ‘Anathema Sirico‘

That, of course, did not happen, but in fact the free market ideology has been effectively anathematized. And it warmed my heart to see this passage, in which those who claim that the magic market is an instrument of justice rather than oppression are categorized with the very worst sort of human beings:

123. The culture of relativism is the same disorder which drives one person to take advantage of another, to treat others as mere objects, imposing forced labour on them or enslaving them to pay their debts. The same kind of thinking leads to the sexual exploitation of children and abandonment of the elderly who no longer serve our interests. It is also the mindset of those who say: Let us allow the invisible forces of the market to regulate the economy, and consider their impact on society and nature as collateral damage. In the absence of objective truths or sound principles other than the satisfaction of our own desires and immediate needs, what limits can be placed on human trafficking, organized crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood diamonds and the fur of endangered species? Is it not the same relativistic logic which justifies buying the organs of the poor for resale or use in experimentation, or eliminating children because they are not what their parents wanted? This same “use and throw away” logic generates so much waste, because of the disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary. We should not think that political efforts or the force of law will be sufficient to prevent actions which affect the environment because, when the culture itself is corrupt and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer upheld, then laws can only be seen as arbitrary impositions or obstacles to be avoided. (emphasis added)

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8 Responses

I do not know if I can still comment here or not, but yes, I applaud the full Authentic Human Ecology put forth in paragraphs 100-150 of Laudato Sii. It is a much needed respite, though it should piss off just about every Cafeteria Catholic in America, Republican or Democrat!

Laudato Si is truly a watershed encyclical that affirms our biblical and patristic mandate to be good shepherds of the immense gift of creation that has been given to us. As someone who has spent 25 years of my life professionally in the environmental remediation and restoration business, I have prayed that such a thing would one day come. I have often appreciated the discussion and frank commentary here. And as an Eastern Christian and deacon of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church I can do nothing but rejoice when Pope Francis writes in complete theological agreement with Ecumenical Patriarch +Bartolomeos of Constantinople. Thank you.

“It is also the mindset of those who say: Let us allow the invisible forces of the market to regulate the economy, and consider their impact on society and nature as collateral damage.”

Ok, I wasn’t in the room when this was written at Vatican City, but doesn’t this refer to “Objectivism” the philosophy of Ayn Rand and her followers? It is the only one I know of that the rejects altruism. I condemn Objectivism.

I have been in the room, where Fr. Sirico said that the morality of a decision made in a free market is to be considered before its profitability. The market itself is neutral. Its participants are moral agents.